E-prescribing continues to grow

Almost 800 million prescriptions were routed electronically in 2012, 44 percent of prescriptions and up from 570 million in 2011, according to Surescripts' annual National Progress Report and Safe-Rx Rankings.

More than 38,000 physicians (69 percent) used e-prescribing in 2012 and nearly half of all office visits (48 percent) resulted in electronically generated medication history requests, up from 31 percent in 2011.

Adoption also is widespread across the country. The adoption rate of e-prescribing by physicians was more than 70 percent in 24 states. Delaware led the pack for the first time, with 82 percent of its physicians actively e-prescribing, followed by Minnesota. No state had an e-prescribing rate below 40 percent.

An impressive 98 percent of chain pharmacies, and 85 percent of independent pharmacies, now have e-prescribing connectivity.